Troy Tulowitzki will play Saturday in instructional league

LOS ANGELES — Troy Tulowitzki will play Saturday in the instructional league in Arizona, not Sunday since there are no games. He will work out Sunday and be evaluated Monday when the Rockies arrive in Phoenix.

There remains a chance he could play in one of the final three games, but if his left leg is still not 100 percent he will likely stay in the instructional league

All-star outfielder Carlos Gonzalez (left hamstring) ran Friday, but is not ready to play. There remains a possibility he won’t appear in another game. Same goes for center fielder Dexter Fowler, whose left wrist remains an issue.

In other news and notes:
–Juan Nicasio, Jhoulys Chacin and Jorge De La Rosa will all report to the instructional league. Nicasio will be there Monday, the others when the season is over. Nicasio and Chacin are expected to pitch in winterball, and it’s possible De La Rosa will as well to build up arm strength after their abbreviated seasons.

–Rob Scahill has taken to a relief role for the Rockies. He had pitched once in relief in his career, backing up Drew Pomeranz in a Double-A game. “I am still getting used to it. But it has gone well,” said Scahill.

I still don’t understand Tulowitzki’s injury. I would expect someone with a full-fledged hernia repair to be back in 2 months or less, but Tulowitzki supposedly only had a little scar tissue scraped off a muscle. Did the Rockies hold Tulowitzki out to have an excuse for their bad season? Or did he really have a more serious injury than what the Rockies said he had?

Patrick, a third-generation Colorado native, is back for his second stint covering the Rockies. He first covered the team from 2005-2009, helping chronicle “Rocktober” in 2007 and also following the team’s playoff run in 2009.

Nick Groke has worked at The Denver Post since 1997, as a sports reporter, city reporter, entertainment writer and digital editor and producer, among other newsroom posts. He also writes regularly about boxing, soccer, MMA and NASCAR.